


A Mystery To Be Solved

by Spideyfan62



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: And Peter Parker Is A Doozy, Curious Michelle Jones, F/M, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Michelle Jones Loves A Good Mystery, Pre-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Precious Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:48:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27131363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spideyfan62/pseuds/Spideyfan62
Summary: In short, there wasn't much mystery to be had at Midtown Tech. Even though she didn't put in a lot of effort, Michelle was a natural observer, and she had pretty much everybody on campus pegged, she was sure of it. For the first two months or so of the school year, she fell into quite the routine of going to school, paying attention in class (except maybe gym) but nowhere else really, coming home, doing her homework, reading, sleeping, and eating somewhere in between all that before waking up to do it all over again. Michelle was only 14, but she was already developing a strong case of senioritis. She determined high school was just a means to an end, and that nothing there could truly capture her interest or attention.That is, until she met Peter Parker.
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	A Mystery To Be Solved

**Author's Note:**

> By now, we all know that one Michelle Jones basically stalked Peter Parker through Homecoming while hiding a massive crush, then ended up having her feelings returned in Far From Home (while forming one of, if not the best MCU couple to date). 
> 
> But how did Peter first catch Michelle's eye anyway?
> 
> Here's my guess...or at least a fun idea I randomly came up with. Enjoy!

Michelle had always enjoyed a good mystery. Perhaps that was why she had such a vested interest in unsolved murder mysteries, not the least of which was the famous Black Dahlia case. On many a nights while her parents were both working, Michelle had stayed up long past her bedtime reading up on what many considered perhaps the world's most famous unsolved murders. In a way, perhaps these mysteries served an an escape for her. Coming up with theories for these things seemed easier, and often more fun, than trying to reach out to her distant parents, who seemed to care more about their work than their only child. 

School didn't seem to offer much better alternatives for personal relationships either, especially now that she was officially in high school. Everyone just seemed to fall into their cliches; even those who the more popular crowd considered "losers" had their own group to hang out with during lunch and in between classes. People tended to look out for themselves and those within their own little social groups, not many really branching out. Those that tried were shut down. 

In short, there wasn't much mystery to be had at Midtown Tech. Even though she didn't put in a lot of effort, Michelle was a natural observer, and she had pretty much everybody on campus pegged, she was sure of it. For the first two months or so of the school year, she fell into quite the routine of going to school, paying attention in class (except maybe gym) but nowhere else really, coming home, doing her homework, reading, sleeping, and eating somewhere in between all that before waking up to do it all over again. Michelle was only 14, but she was already developing a strong case of senioritis. She determined high school was just a means to an end, and that nothing there could truly capture her interest or attention. 

That is, until she met Peter Parker. 

Okay, met might be a strong word; he probably didn't even register she was there at the time, but that's beside the point. The point is that, up until that particular point, Michelle had only barely known Peter from seeing him in a couple of her classes. He seemed like a decent guy, but fell into kind of the loser clique, which in his case seemed to be made up of him and that bubbly Ned kid. Anyway, one thing she had noticed was that he frequently got bullied. Usually it was quick and mostly words, but sometimes it got physical. A couple times, in fact, she had almost gone up and dared them to hit a girl, just to see what happened, but the guys who did it always had gotten in their licks by the time she made up her mind. 

Well, one day, she noticed that one of the guys that beat him up have some money fall out of their pocket onto hallway floor. She had been sitting against the lockers when it happened, and she could've gotten up and brought it to him, but she frankly didn't care. A couple seconds later, there came Peter from the side hallway, dorky glasses and all, and she saw him scoop up the money and glance in the direction of the guy that had dropped it (again, one of the guys who had hit Peter and bullied him in general). 

"Good," she thought to herself. "Maybe this guy will see that it literally doesn't pay to be..."

"Hey man!" he suddenly called out, running towards the guy who had dropped the money. "You dropped your $100. I think you might want that back." 

A $100? Are you KIDDING?? Here Peter was with the prime opportunity to take advantage of some luck and he just blew it. Michelle could remember some passing conversation he would have with Ned as she passed them in the hallway about his family's rough financial state, so he could've put it away for a rainy day even. 

"What's the deal, Parker?" the other boy growled, snatching the bill from Peter's hand. "You trying to steal from me!?" 

"N-no, of course not," Peter had stammered back. 

"You better not be, or next time you'll be sorry!" the guy bellowed back at him before storming off. Peter then turned and walked away, and Michelle could still picture the look he had as he walked past her: his head was down, his shoulders slumped, and from what little she could see of his eyes, they conveyed some sense of tired sorrow, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders or something. She continued to stare at him as he walked past her, the notebook in her lap and pencil in her hand forgotten. 

Later that night, Michelle tried went to her usual reading when she should've been sleeping, but she just couldn't get Peter Parker out of her head. Who in their right mind would do something so...kind... for someone who had bullied them so hard, brutally even at times? She eventually gave up on the book and tried to go to sleep, but as she laid under the covers, her thoughts constantly returned back to Peter. Why did he do it? Why hadn't she done it before him? After all, she saw the bill fall first, she had ample opportunity. Why had she practically memorized his facial features as he walked by? And above all else, why did she get this weird fuzzy feeling at times when she thought to deeply about him? 

Michelle resolved from then on to figure out what made Peter Parker tick. She started sitting a table or two away from him and Ned, listening to their conversations under the guise of reading a book in solitude. She joined the Academic Decathlon team, which she discovered she was actually pretty decent in. She started paying more attention to Peter in class, even sketching him at times. Unfortunately, despite all of this, she could find nothing inherently special about Peter, no hint of some big incident or driving force that just suddenly made him so...good. The guy just seemed to BE that way. Maybe it was the aunt and uncle he talked about to Ned a lot who were raising him, but following Peter to observe him with them would just make her a flat out stalker, and that was a line she would NEVER cross (no, she hadn't crossed it already, thank you very much). She could actually try and get to know Peter better; that way, who knows, maybe he'd ask her over and she could meet his aunt and uncle? No, that was too...personal. Dare she admit it, maybe a little intimidating. 

Whatever the case, she wasn't going to give up. Peter Parker was a mystery that needed to be solved, and Michelle solved mysteries, and that was all there was too it. 

No, it totally had nothing to do with the idea that she MIGHT find the dork just the SLIGHTEST bit cute.

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another late night drabble of mine. Hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Once more, stay safe and healthy out there, and I'm continuing to pray for you all! 
> 
> "But I tell you, love your enemies..." Matthew 5:43-48


End file.
